


Dresses, Hair Clips, and Cute Boys, Oh My!

by moretrash



Series: Dads of Marmora [14]
Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: And Gender Identity, Coming Out, Dads of Marmora (Voltron), Dresses, Gay Keith (Voltron), Gender-Neutral Pronouns for Pidge | Katie Holt, Hair Clips, I just feel like Keith was raised kind of sheltered, I live for Pidge and Keith being friends, Let Keith Feel Pretty 2k18, Mentions of homophobia, Questioning Sexuality, Space Mall, This is mentioned only in passing, in a way???, non-binary Pidge
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-09
Updated: 2018-02-09
Packaged: 2019-03-16 01:40:36
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,492
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13625859
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/moretrash/pseuds/moretrash
Summary: Keith realizes that he isn't on Earth and really, a lot of things that aren't the norm on Earth are actually the norm in space. He struggles to determine who he is.





	Dresses, Hair Clips, and Cute Boys, Oh My!

All his life, Keith thought he knew who he was.

He was the son of a man with a thick Texan accent and gentleness in his eyes. He never knew his mother, though his father always said that she had left him when Keith was a baby.

However, something always threw Keith off when he was around his father. For a while, Keith was convinced that the man didn't have a single bad bone in his body, but Keith realized the cracks in the delicate facade as he grew up.

"Keith, promise me you'll never end up like them." He'd say whenever the two would pass a gay couple on the street. It always confused Keith, what was wrong with them? They looked perfectly happy to the young child, holding hands and laughing as they walked.

So, when he was fourteen and developing a crush on the boy who sat three rows in front of him at school, he shoved it into the deepest, darkest part of himself. He thought that anything he shoved in that corner could never come out. He couldn't be like that, could he? His dad had never lied to him, there must be something wrong with him to be loving a guy.

He tried to tell himself that he loved the girl who sat next to him, or any girl for that matter, but it never did truly stick in his mind. He never felt anything but friendship for the girls he interacted with.

Then he was eighteen and finding out that he wasn't even completely human. Well, that explained why his mom was never around, at least. Maybe she was dead, maybe she was taken by the government. He always had been suspicious of the Garrison keeping aliens somewhere in the facility. 

And, well, that revelation had sent Keith spiralling into the universe's most intense identity crisis. All his life, he was Keith Kogane, the average human who was good at flying. Now, he was Keith Kogane, half-Galra who was somehow connected to a mysterious secret society. He had no idea how, though. 

To make matters worse, he yearned to snatch the sparkly nail polish from Lance's stash, like some sort of niffler that was attracted by beauty products rather than shiny things. He always stopping to look at the beautiful dresses arranged on trendily-posed mannequins that were set up in the window of a store in the space mall. Delicate ribbons connected to clips drew him in much more often than he would care to admit. They were just so pretty, though!

Of course, he had always been taught that these things were unnatural. He just couldn't be that way, he wasn't that way.

Was he?

To make thing more confusing to Keith, Pidge had come out to the paladins as non-binary. Everyone was accepting, and Allura had already correctly guessed this update on the ever more confusing genius. Except, Keith had merely followed along with what everyone else was saying, acting accepting even though he had no idea what non-binary actually was. He didn't want to have the wrong reaction to the clearly very personal revelation.

That night, he had snuck down the hall to Pidge's room, rapping gently at the door until the shorter paladin let the door slide open.

"What's up, Keith? Even you should be in bed at this point." They had said, tilting their head. Keith glanced at his feet. Why couldn't he just understand it? No one else had to ask these questions.

"What's non-binary?" He had asked, firmly avoiding eye contact with the shortest paladin. Pidge smiled a bit, but looked confused.

"It means that I don't identify as a boy or a girl. Keith, how did you accept me earlier if you didn't even know what it was?" They asked. Keith blushed a bit.

"I just... didn't want to have the wrong reaction so I just copied everyone else. But isn't it impossible for you to be anything but a boy or a girl?" He said. He had known no other way than seeing people as what they had been born as. Pidge just smiled patiently at him.

"Its not impossible, Keith. Based off of your chromosomes, yeah, you're a boy or a girl. But sometimes people identify as a boy when they were born a girl or vice versa, some, like me, don't identify as anything at all. Its hard to explain because everyone's feelings about their identity are different. But for me, I've never seen myself as girl or a guy. Yeah, I have boobs and a vagina but that doesn't automatically make me a girl. Like some girls can have dicks, and that's cool. Some guys have vaginas and that's cool too. I'm rambling, but that does that make sense?" They said. Keith shrugged, still confused.

"Kind of, but its still confusing." He admitted, his voice betraying just how frustrated he was that he didn't understand. Pidge grabbed Keith's datapad and loaded something onto it using what keith assumed was a space flash drive.

"I'm explaining it weird. I'm loading an article from a professional that explains the more psychological, mental parts of it. That'll probably help you more." They said, handing back the datapad. Keith couldn't help but smile.

"Thank you, Pidge. This will help a lot." He said, walking back to his room and reading through the article. He understood it a lot better by the time he finally found sleep.

A few days later, however, Keith's brain would short-circuit when Pidge came downstairs wearing a light sundress.

"What's up?" They had asked when they saw Keith's confused stare.

"I... I thought dresses were a girl thing? Aren't you non-binary?" Keith asked, truly confused. He looked even more confused when Lance started snorting with laughter.

"Mullet, I would think the hermit of the desert shack would know this one." He said. Pidge glared lightly at Lance.

"Shut up Lance. I understand why he's confused. Keith, just because I'm non-binary doesn't mean I can't do things that are typically associated with a certain gender. Dresses are comfortable sometimes, it doesn't make someone more or less of a gender they identify as. Does that make sense?" They said. Everyone was stunned, because they had expected Pidge to go into a complex explanation, maybe getting a bit irritated at Keith's assumptions. But instead, they had patiently explained it to Keith.

Meanwhile, Keith thought his brains couldn't short-circuit any worse than it had been, but he was wrong. Did that mean that he could wear dresses? They were so pretty, and he felt his stomach flutter in excitement at the idea. He pushed it down though. Maybe it was just for non-binary people. He shouldn't ask, what if he looked stupid?

-

Keith never thought he'd have a true family after his dad left. No one to guide him through life or tell him what's right and wrong. But here he was, the beloved youngest kit of four Galra and protected younger brother of another Galra. 

He considered himself to be the luckiest being in the universe. His family was always ready to explain something to him, and always did so patiently.

"Kolivan, why do some Galra have fur and others have scales?"

"Because of dominant and recessive genes, kit. If I'm not mistaken, I'm fairly sure scales are the recessive trait, right, Ulaz?" Kolivan confirmed with the pale Galra who worked in the medical bay.

"Correct. Most Galra have fur, scales are getting pretty rare these days." Ulaz said as he looked up from his datapad.

Keith nodded and settled back into his spot on the nest.

"How come I never see any female Galra?" He asked. Thace smiled.

"Galra are an all-male species aside from hybrids." He said. Keith paused a bit.

"... Does that mean my mom was actually a dude?" He asked, thoroughly confused. Ulaz shrugged and smiled.

"Most likely. We can't find traces of other species in yiur blood, which means your mother was a full Galra. However, chromosome-wise, he may have been male, but they may have identified as female. Many Galra do, actually. Some identify as male but they like dresses and nail decor and such. And that's okay." He said. Keoth tilts his head.

"So are Galra... gay?" He asked. Antok chuckled warmly.

"Most are, yeah. Myself and Kolivan? We're mates, so are Thace and Ulaz. We're gay as quiznak." He said. "But some may fall in love with a woman of a different species, too. Some may fall in love with both males and females." He said. Keith gasped a bit.

"So... so..." he said, unsure about how to go in with his thought.

"Kit, please do articulate. We will not judge your thoughts or questions." Ulaz said. Keith sighed.

"I just... I think I'm gay? Like, I've never felt love for any girls on Earth but I was so head over heels for a few guys." He said. Regris laughed.

"That makes two of us, then. Damn, a pack full of gay guys." He said casually. Keith sighed a bit.

"Yeah, about that... am I still a guy if I like dresses and stuff?" He asked. Kolivan nodded.

"Of course. You can be male and still like dresses and such. Its all a matter of comfort, really, why?" He asked. Keith was so relieved that he couldn't hold back a grin.

"Well, I've always liked dresses and nail polish and ribbons but I couldn't wear them because they were for girls only on Earth. And then Pidge wore them even though they're non-binary and then I thought that it was always for girls and non-binary people. I always thought there was something wrong with me for liking guys and dresses and ribbons." Keith tried to explain, though he was sure it was just a babble of happiness. Regris laughed a bit.

"Calm down, dude. I'm glad you're excited but you're tail will hurt if you keep hitting it against the wall like that." He said, pulling Keith close with his own tail. Antok smiled.

"Every person is different, Keith. Quite honestly, we couldn't care less what you do or wear as long as you are safe and happy." He said, running his claws through Keith's hair. It never failed to amaze him how soft and silky it was compared to the average Galra fur. Not that it wasn't soft, but it wasn't nearly as soft as Keith's hair.

"If you wish, kit, we can get you some dresses when we next stop for supplies." Ulaz suggested, humming in thought. Keith perked up and nodded happily, settling down in the nest for a well-deserved nap.

-

His pack really does keep their promises, making them among the few that had kept a promise to Keith. And they hadn't even really promised it.

Here they were, browsing a clothes store for Keith, looking for a suitable dress. The store sold all types; frilly nightgowns, flowing sundresses, form-fitting dinner gowns, and everything in between. Keith was sure he had even seen some lacy lingerie. 

"What about this one, kit?" Kolivan suggests, pulling a dress off of the racks. Its a sundress, and based off of the mannequin modelling it nearby, supposed to fall to mid-calf level. It was mostly white with red and gold accents at the hem. Keith is drawn to it due to it's simple design, prompting him to nod.

A peppy-looking saleswoman looks over at them.

"Would you like to get measured for the right dress size?" She asked. Keith nodded a bit and followed her at her gesture. They entered a side room near the changing rooms, labelling "fitting rooms". Each stall-like structure has a slightly elevated portion to make it easier for salespeople to measure their customers. 

Keith felt slightly uncomfortable being in only his underwear around the saleswoman, but the fitting really only lasted a few minutes before he's able to put his clothes back on.

"This size should fit you." She said, pulling the correct size of the dress off of the rack. A small comfort to Keith is that the dress size should fit him on most dresses he tries on, so he doesn't have to be fitted again.

He thanked the woman and went into the changing room with the dress, changing into it. He looked at himself in the mirror and grinned. He had thought that the dress would stick to his skin, but he was so wrong. The top of the dress was slightly loose and sleeveless, cinching just below his ribs. From there, the dress flows down to mid-calf, never once cinching in and feeling like water on freshly shaved legs (Keith tried it once, the feeling is absolutely divine). 

"Hey, you wanna come out? We wanna see what you look like!" Regris said. Keith was glad that he was so supportive, but Regris really did get too excited about things sometimes. Nevertheless, Keith stepped out of the changing stall and smiled bashfully, clearly very happy. He heard small gasps, unsure if they were good or bad.

"You look so pretty, Keith!" Regris said, stepping closer to examine the bright white as a contrast to Keith's purple fur. Keith blushed lightly and grinned. Ulaz smiled a bit.

"I agree, Kit, you look great. I must admit that I thought red wouldn't look the best against your fur, but it looks very nice." He said. Kolivan grumbled a bit. 

"Rude." He said, gesturing to the red markings that were present on his face. Ulaz smiled a bit.

"I meant that the shades wouldn't mix right, Kolivan." He said. Regris hid a giggle behind his hand, letting Keith change back into his clothes before dragging him to look at more dresses.

In the end, Keith ended up getting four dresses, one of which was the sundress. The other three were a dress with a snug-fitting top and poofy skirt that fell to his knees, the top being a cream color and the skirt being black, a form-fitting dress that Keith could only explain as being the stereotypical 'little black dress' only the dress was a yellowish-beige color. The last dress was a white nightgown that fell to his knees, with grey lace decorating it.

He had also gotten a few matching hairclips for each one. For the sundress he got a white ribbon, a red ribbon, and a gold-colored headband. For the poofy dress he got a silver-colored ribbon. For the form-fitting dress he got a yellow faux-flower crown. He didn't get any clips for the nightgown, because why would he do that if he was just going to sleep in it?

By the time he had tried on all the dresses, he thought that he looked more attractive after every one. He had never thought that something so simple would bring him to near-constant giddy giggles, but that was okay. He pack accepted him, and that's all that mattered to him.


End file.
